County is hiring again; payroll nears peak

After shedding jobs for years, county agencies are again hiring. The newest positions are 169 mental health jobs like the one held by Orange County Health Agency's Aliya Gamez, a program evaluation specialist. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Orange County and local governments across the nation reduced their payrolls as full-time benefits costs climbed and tax revenue declined. Many relied on less expensive independent contractors. Now, faced with long-term demands in healthcare and elsewhere, officials are taking on full-time workers.

The county this year is pushing 18,000 positions – just 700 shy of its fiscal 2008 peak. It reached a nadir of 17,200 positions in fiscal 2012.

Supervisor John Moorlach recently requested a summary of hiring at the Health Care Agency and the Social Services Agencies – the two departments with the most expansion this year – so he could better explain the growth. In September, Social Services added about 150 workers to screen patients for the Affordable Care Act.

Constituents and current employees become concerned about new hires, Moorlach said, “especially when you’re saying you can’t give a raise.”

The county’s allocation of state Mental Health Services Act funds is growing by about $25 million over the next year-and-a-half, to $132 million in fiscal 2014-15. The funds must be spent on personnel and other resources to support mental health programs.

Funded by a tax on millionaires, the MHSA was passed in 2004 by voters, under Proposition 63.

It pays for programs such as the Centralized Assessment Team, which responds to psychiatric emergencies in homes or medical settings. Two years ago, that group’s budget doubled, from $2 million to $4 million annually.

So the agency staffed up with independent contractors – clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and others – to meet the funding level.

“This was a good way for us to expand,” said Mary Hale, county deputy director of behavioral health.

But two years later, officials realized “they were not much different than us,” Hale said. With a reliable revenue stream, the county decided to bring the positions into the county fold – with full benefits.

Another factor was federal tax law. It says that if an employer has “control,” a worker must be classified as an employee. Factors considered include whether the worker is trained by the employer, submits reports, works on premises and follows a set schedule.

Sometimes, this sort of shift is prompted when contractors take legal action, but county officials said the workers didn’t file a claim against the county.

After shedding jobs for years, county agencies are again hiring. The newest positions are 169 mental health jobs like the one held by Orange County Health Agency's Aliya Gamez, a program evaluation specialist. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Orange County Health Agency's Mark Lawrenz, far left, is the interim prevention and intervention division manager, and oversaw new hires at the Agency. He poses with Naveen Shetty, evaluation specialist for the prevention and intervention division and office supervisor Imelda Castenada. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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